Loveland gas station cleanup is first of its kind

Protruding pipes at West Eisenhower site trigger curiosity

By Craig Young Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
01/27/2014 04:32:22 PM MST

Jose Franco with Red Willow Construction of Windsor pulls a broom across fresh concrete Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014, at a gasoline-remediation project on West Eisenhower Boulevard in Loveland. CGRS Inc. of Fort Collins is installing a system that will heat the underground soil to hasten the removal of contaminants -- the first time the method has been used in Colorado, according to the company.
(
Craig Young
)

LOVELAND -- The sight of hundreds of short metal pipes protruding from the ground around a building on West Eisenhower Boulevard is arousing the curiosity of passers-by, some of whom have stopped to ask the construction workers if they are fracking.

The project at the site of a former gas station does involve removing hydrocarbons from the ground, but it's a far cry from hydraulic fracturing - a gas and oil extraction process that occurs more than a mile underground.

In this case, the gas in the ground is just 8 to 14 feet deep, and it's left over from leaking gasoline storage tanks.

At 2004 W. Eisenhower Blvd., Fort Collins-based CGRS Inc. is installing Colorado's first use of Gas Thermal Remediation, a process that involves heating the soil underground to hasten the evaporation of contaminants and then sucking the hydrocarbons out of the ground.

"The patented GTR thermal remediation system provides a more aggressive alternative, and the treatment time is significantly reduced," according to Glen Vallance, CGRS scientist and project manager, in an email interview.

Once the system is running, it will take just 88 days for the leaked gasoline to be removed from the soil and groundwater, Vallance said. After that, the company is required to test the area for a year for rebound contamination, he said.

200 Holes in the Ground

Vallance said crews bored 200 holes 14 feet deep, and in those holes they have placed 340 steel wells:

70 burner wells, which will be fitted with natural-gas-powered burners to heat the soil to 212 degrees.

70 reheat wells that will take the heat from the burners and distribute it to more soil.

60 soil-vapor-extraction wells that will draw the evaporated contaminants out of the soil with a vacuum system.

140 smaller extraction wells in the same holes as the heater wells.

The hydrocarbons drawn out of the soil are sent back into the system to be burned as a supplemental fuel source, Vallance said.

The property has been the site of a gas station since 1972, he said.

According to city directories and Reporter-Herald files, the station originally was Bradley's Self Service Gas. It changed hands and names several times and for about 20 years was Loveland Sinclair before becoming Quick Save Gas in 2006 or 2007.

Vallance said his company, the state Division of Oil and Public Safety's lead contractor for such jobs, removed the gas station's fueling system in August 2011 and discovered soil and groundwater contamination.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency's website, 514,000 leaking underground storage tanks have been identified nationwide over the past few decades, and 78,000 remain to be cleaned up.

Excavation Was an Option

Several cleanup methods are available, depending on the conditions of the site and the leak - and some can take years, according to the EPA.

Vallance said CGRS removed 458 cubic yards of contaminated soil from around the tanks and discovered that the leaking gasoline had migrated eastward across the property.

Company officials considered digging out that soil, too, before settling on in-situ thermal remediation using Gas Thermal Remediation. He said the system will treat about 3,100 cubic yards of soil.

Mike Everett, the field technician with CGRS overseeing the installation of the system, said as he works at the site, people frequently stop and speculate about the unusual sight.

More than one has asked if it's fracking, he said, but his favorite was the person who asked if he was installing a marijuana-growing operation.

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